Gallery Weekend in Paris

Gallery Weekend in Paris

Strength through unity… The old proverb still holds for a number of Paris art galleries that have decided to unite their energies and networks during a "gallery weekend", the very first of its kind to be staged in the French capital. Since Berlin launched the formula ten years ago, these events have spread like wildfire to Warsaw (Warsaw Gallery Weekend), Vienna (Vienna Gallery Weekend), and Brussels (Brussels Art Days, now preparing for the seventh edition), Chicago, Dallas, New York and, more recently, Atlanta. In this context of intensive fertilisation, the Paris version has been slow to emerge. ‘We have been thinking about it for a long time,’ explains Marion Papillon, assistant director of the Claudine Papillon Gallery, which initiated the event, ‘but this type of event is difficult to set up. It's hard just to find a date that doesn't clash with the fairs, and suits everyone.’ Some galleries had to juggle with their calendars in order to bring already scheduled previews in line with the opening evening on 23 May. Playing the group card is thus the precept for the 35 participants, based in Belleville (Jocelyn Wolff), the Marais (Chantal Crousel) and the Rive Droite (Georges-Philippe and Nathalie Vallois). They are all galleries with well established reputations and a variety of profiles, ranging from the historic (Jean Fournier and Jaeger Bucher) to the most forward-looking (Cortex Athletico and Laurent Mueller). The programme of this first edition includes exhibitions with many works by French artists – a priority for a Marion Papillon committed to promoting the national scene. Apart from this orientation, which is suggested without being obligatory, the galleries seem to have focused on confirmed talents like Michel Parmentier with Hervé Loevenbruck and Jean Fournier, Jiří Kolář with Le Minotaure, Francisco Tropa with Jocelyn Wolff and Jeremy Deller with Art Concept. In contrast, others – though they are rare – are focusing on young artists, like the Isabelle Gounod gallery, which is showing paintings by Jérémy Liron (b. 1980), and Eva Hober, with the 30-something Pauline Bastard.

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Frieze New York, from 9 to 12 May in Randall’s Island Park, Manhattan. The young, avant-garde and highly European fair has now stolen the limelight from the historical Armory Show. A vital stage for conquering the American art market…

Souvenirs of the legendary Lutétia Hotel on the Paris Rive Gauche, illustrated books by the Iranian poet Salah Stétié, a Monogold by Yves Klein, a painting by the Dutch artist Eglon Van Der Neer (Great Lady) and funerary furnishings from the 13th Egyptian dynasty are just some of the highlights of the sales in France…

China once more features large in the game of auctions, posting some thundering results from Hong Kong to Paris (Chicken Cup from period of Chenghua, oil on canvas by Zao Wou-ki…). And for once, the French decorative arts have followed suit.

"De la Chine aux Arts Décoratifs". For the first time, this exhibition unveils the Paris Musée des Arts Décoratifs' collection of Chinese objets d’art, exceptional for their quality and diversity.

From 23 to 25 May, 35 galleries are opening for the very first "Collectors' Weekend" in France. They are all galleries with well established reputations and a variety of profiles, ranging from the historic (Jean Fournier and Jaeger Bucher) to the more forward-looking (Cortex Athletico and Laurent Mueller).

After the Armory Show, which devoted its fifth "Focus" to China, Art Paris Art Fair included a window onto contemporary Chinese creation. The choice of China was a timely one, because the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and China involves a series of events in Paris.

The legendary Kunstkammer has opened again at the Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM) in Vienna, Austria, following ten years of meticulous restoration in the museum's laboratories. This is the biggest cabinet of curiosities in the world, covering a thousand years of history…